Stolen Mumford & Sons Banjo Found Next To Australian Highway – Just In Time For Tuesday’s Webcast!

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Equipment theft is an all too common obstacle for bands on the road. Just this year, alt-rock guitar god J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. had one of his signature white Squire Jazzmaster guitars stolen at a show in Eugene, OR, while popular Led Zeppelin tribute band Led Zepagain were robbed of $40,000 worth of guitars, drums, keyboards and more after a show in the Bay Area.

Even perennial nice guys like Mumford & Sons aren’t immune to such crimes, as they discovered during a recent tour in Australia when $10,000 worth of gear was taken from the backstage area of a show at the Belvoir Ampitheatre in Perth. In addition to crucial (and expensive) in-ear monitors for the band being taken, the thieves even made off with catering items like a tub of spaghetti.

What Mumford & Sons didn’t realize was missing, however, was one of the band’s banjos, which a passing motorist discovered hidden in bushes along the Great Northern Highway in Australia.

“I went back to collect what I thought was an old guitar but it turned out to be a banjo,” said Good Samaritan Troy Condo of Stratton to inmycommunity.com about spying a black case on the side of the highway as he was driving. After hearing on the radio that Mumford & Sons had been plundered in Perth, Condo sprang into action.

“We e-mailed the band and their tour manager called and said they had no idea the banjo was missing,” he explained. “Apparently, it was one of the banjos they used on the live set.”

The obviously thrilled Mumford & Sons camp were soon reunited with their beloved banjo in Sydney.

Tune in Tuesday, November 13th at 10AM PT/1PM ET as Mumford & Sons webcast a very intimate performance along with question and answer session (we’d like to ask them about getting their stolen banjo back!). Watch the exclusive webcast here.